ID's The Price of Glee: What was the case against Mark Salling?

Mark Salling was reportedly "focused on accepting responsibility" in his child p*rnography case in the final days leading up to his tragic death in 2018.

Salling, who played Noah "Puck" Puckerman on Ryan Murphy's popular Fox musical series Glee from 2009 to 2015, died by suicide on January 30. His death came weeks before he was slated to be sentenced to prison for possessing child p*rn. His body was found hanging from a tree in the San Fernando Valley, not far from his Sunland, California, home.

In a plea agreement with federal prosecutors before he tragically died, Salling admitted to possessing p*rnographic pictures of prepubescent children. According to reports, Salling's computer included more than 50,000 images of child p*rn.

ID's The Price of Glee will delve into the case against Mark Salling on Monday, January 16, 2023. The three-part documentary series will air at 9.00 pm ET.

Disclaimer: This article contains information that may be disturbing to some readers. Viewer discretion is advised.

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Mark Salling was arrested for possessing child p*rnography in 2015

As per PEOPLE, In December 2015, Mark Salling was taken into custody for the possession of child p*rnography. He was arrested and placed in a downtown Los Angeles facility on a $20,000 bond, after which he posted his bail.

A search warrant issued by the LAPD's Internet Crimes Against Children division for Salling's Sunland, California, led to the discovery of his laptop which was full of "child p*rnography and child er*tica." The search also led to the team finding a memory stick with more than 4,000 images and 160 videos of child p*rn.

In several of the photos, infants and toddlers were depicted in "sadistic or masochistic" ways. Salling allegedly downloaded the pictures between April and December 2015.

In May 2016, months after his initial arrest, the actor was charged with receiving and possessing child p*rnography by a federal grand jury. A two-count indictment against him claimed that in December 2015, he received videos and images of child p*rnography featuring underage girls. He consented to turn himself in to federal authorities on June 3 to answer the allegations in the indictment.

Following the charges, Mark Salling was sacked from the miniseries Gods and Secrets in June 2016. The project's director and executive producer Adi Shankar indicated that a portion of the proceeds would be donated to a charity that supported abused children.

According to PEOPLE, Shanker made a public statement, saying:

"Hopefully some good will come of all of this. The innocence of our planet’s children is something that must be protected at all costs. As entertainers, our role is to be the 'conscience of humanity.'"

A judge postponed Salling's trial in the child p*rn case until the end of June 2016. The court reportedly agreed to the former Glee actor's request to hire a new lawyer at the hearing, and the initial trial date of July 12 was postponed to make room for the new legal counsel.

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Mark Salling was slated to be sentenced at the time of his death

Finally, by October 2017, Mark Salling pleaded guilty to possessing child p*rnography involving a prepubescent child and was expected to receive a jail term of four to seven years.

Moreover, as part of the plea deal, he was required to pay $50,000 in restitution to each victim, register as a s*x offender, enroll in a treatment program, refrain from verbal or electronic contact with anyone under the age of 18, and stay 100 feet away from schools, parks, public swimming pools, youth centers, playgrounds, and arcades.

Although the number of his victims remains uncertain, there were two prepubescent girls and one girl between the age of three and five, who were s*xually exploited.

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Catch The Price of Glee on ID this Monday, January 16, 2023.